PRESS RELEASE. In Colleton County’s first Colleton County Community Read (CCCR), organizers of the event say this day of dedicated reading was a “big success,” according to Colleton County Children’s Librarian Shiela Keaise. To orchestrate the event, the library partnered with many community partners, including the Colleton County School District, First Steps, North Walterboro Christian Academy, the Lowcountry Community Action Agency, Colleton Preparatory Academy, the East Coast Migrant Head Start Project, the local library, and some homeschoolers. These groups prioritized reading during the week of April 4 – 7, 2022.
“CCCR promoted parent/child, teacher/child, community/child, and librarian/child read-a-longs for one full week. These relationships are perfect for nurturing the child’s physical, emotional, and social development. Each unique bond that every child and parent/teacher/librarian/community member plays a part in makes Colleton county more literate. These relationships lay the foundation for the child’s personality, life choices, and overall behavior, but their literacy level,” said Keaise.
The program ended on April 8th with the “Big Read,” where more than 77 readers (community leaders) went to schools, daycares, and libraries to read to students in Colleton County.
The books they read were selected from various reading levels and for all ages of children by committee members and staff of the CCCR project.
“I was thrilled with the level of community support during our Big Read day,” said library Director Carl Coffin. “Thank you, Colleton County readers, Colleton County First Steps, teachers, and administrative staff for supporting literacy and education in the lives of our youth.”
As a part of the event, more than 5,900 students in Colleton County received free books, thanks to the $10,000 Save The Children grant and a $23,000 Colleton County Memorial Library (CCML) donation. Colleton Dental Associates donated $500 that helped provide gifts for our volunteers and partners. The Colleton County Memorial Library purchased the Illustrate-A-Book projects written and illustrated by the local children’s librarian and over 100 youths of Colleton County.
“Promoting a love of reading has always been a priority in the Children’s Department,” said Keaise. “We would not have been able to accomplish our first Colleton County Community Read project without the idea and assistance from Colleton County School District Superintendent Dr. Vallerie Cave. Thank you to Sean Gruber, who served as our liaison to the schools and videographer.”
